When it comes to smoking my pipe, I’m pretty much an avowed aromatic hater. Aromatics never taste like they smell before being lit, they burn hot, they burn wet, and (too me, at least) they just taste bad. Bob’s Chocolate Flake, from Gawith, Hoggarth & Co., is the sole exception. “Virginias, Latakia and Burley tobaccos are combined with hints of chocolate, cocoa and the barest hint of vanilla.” I actually like this stuff every now and then as a change of pace. A customer of mine just reminded me that it’s been a good while since I lit up a bowl of the stuff.

Japan has yanked its Antarctic whaling fleet. Officials said it was the first time in the 20 years since the scientific hunts began that one had to end early. The target for this year was 860. Apparently, you need to kill 860 whales in a year to study them. But Japan says that it will still be able to collect some data and that there will not be a “significant increase in the cost of whale meat.” Thatnk heavens that those whales didn’t die in vain.

In what is likely to set off yet another wave of enthusiastic attic rummaging, the legendary Honus Wagner T206 trading card has been sold at auction for a record $2,350,000. That’s $2.35 MILLION for a little scrap of paper. I can just hear the sounds of folks flipping through the collections of their collective youth, hoping against hope that they find a card that’s worth more than a nickel.

Prince Charles made comments while visiting the Imperial College London Diabetes Center in Abu Dhabi for the launch of a public health campaign, The Press Association reported. “Have you got anywhere with McDonald’s? Have you tried getting it banned? That’s the key,” Charles was quoted as asking one of the center’s nutritionists. Seems Chuck has got it all figured out. Get rid of McDonalds, rid the world of diabetes. Who would have though it was so simple? I thought that genetics and personal responsibility were the keys, but what do I know?